The only requirement was cooperation on virtues that were inherent to Islam.

To drive the point home, Hilf Al-Fudul did not require its participants to adopt a new identity based on shared ideology.

This is the opposite of what Muslim Feminists are doing.

Seriously, what’s with the nose rings? Y’all look like cattle.

From the Horse’s Mouth

In Feminist Edges of the Quran Dr. Aysha Hidayatullah wrote:

It is my position that feminist interpretations may very well be inappropriate to the Qur’an and subvert the exegetical tradition — not because feminism is necessarily or categorically mistaken, immoral, foreign or sullied in some other way — but because in placing feminist demands on the Qur’an, we have projected a historically specific (and at the same time theoretically unclear) sense of ‘gender justice’ onto the text without fully considering how our demands might, in fact, be anachronistic and incommensurate with Qur’anic statements… (pp 150)

Dr. Hidayatullah, a Feminist herself, shows that our scripture cannot be reconciled with a Feminist paradigm, and that Islamic Feminists have not been able to provide solutions to this ‘problem.’

Mainstream Muslims, however, do have the solution — simmer down with this Feminist BS and just be a Muslim.

Mental Gymnastics

Our religious scripture contradicts the core tenets of Feminism.

Muslim Feminists tap-dance around this by reading into the scripture and re-defining what it means to be a Feminist.

Are Islamic teachings on gender compatible with Feminism?

If you’re a Muslim Feminist, ask any non-Muslim Feminist if the following Islamic legal and moral obligations are compatible with Feminism:

The obligation to wear hijab while in the presence of marriageable males

The obligation to fulfill her husband’s sexual needs

The obligation to submit to her husband and obey him

The prohibition on women travelling on long journeys without a male chaperone

The Muslim ruler’s mandate to compel women to wear the niqab in public

I can think of many more examples. Listing them all is not the point.

Feminists will tell you what most of we Muslims have been telling you — “You are all dumbasses.”

This is a Venn diagram showing the intersection between Islam and Feminism

Muslim feminists are deviants in Islam and Feminism

This puts the Muslim Feminist in an awkward position. She is a deviant from the perspective of both Islam and Feminism.

The closer to Feminism she is, the more religiously deviant she is as a Muslim.

The closer to Islam she is, the more ideologically deviant she is as a Feminist.

There’s just no getting around it unless you redefine the meaning of the words ‘Feminism’ and ‘Feminist.’

The appeal to patriarchy: Feminist damsels in distress

When Feminists can’t defend their beliefs on their own they cry for help from the patriarchy. Ever the damsels in distress when convenient.

Ever the damsels in distress when convenient.

This is also true of Muslim Feminists.

The most recent manifestation is their fascination with Islamic scholar Dr. Mohammed Akram Nadwi.

Dr. Akram is an Indian-born Muslim scholar who is based out of Oxford, where he runs an Islamic seminary.

Finally! They now have access to a scholar sympathetic to the plight of the Muslim Feminist who they can pretend to follow in a marriage of convenience.

That Dr. Akram never actually says it’s OK to be a Feminist is a minor inconvenience.

Still, he does have a soft spot for women’s issues and in the following video explains why Muslim women who don’t know any better might seek recourse in Feminism.

His opinions on women’s’ obligations and responsibilities are as mainstream as they get.They are certainly not compatible with any interpretation of Feminism.

They are certainly not compatible with any interpretation of Feminism.

In reality, Feminist deference to Islamic scholarship is lip service.Scholars that openly disagree with Feminists in any significant way will be mocked and ridiculed.

Scholars that openly disagree with Feminists in any significant way will be mocked and ridiculed.

Recently another Islamic scholar, Dr. Abdul Hakim Murad, dared to question the feminist narrative in mainstream media and popular culture:

Murad was clear that Feminism and Islam are incompatible.

“Those who are desperately trying to find 2nd wave Feminism in the pages of the Quran and Hadith…they’ll be disappointed sooner or later, because it’s just not there.” — Abdul Hakim Murad (at 11:15)

His efforts were met with backlash and vitriol from Muslim Feminists when the above video made the rounds on the internet.

SJW-Fry is bewildered by Muslim Feminists

Reductio Ad Absurdum

The Muslim Hindu

Disclaimer: My intent here is not to mock Hindus or Hinduism. I’m merely making an analogy.

How would you react if I told you that I am a Muslim Hindu?

I strongly believe in Animal Welfare.

Since Hinduism encourages reverence of animals, I’ve decided that I can best draw awareness to Muslims’ over-consumption of meat and our mistreatment of animals, by identifying as a Hindu.

I don’t condone their polytheism.

I only agree with those Hindu teachings that are compatible with Islam.

Most Muslims would feel visceral distaste while reading the above. It is part of their innate disposition.

They ought to feel the same way if “Muslim Feminist” or “Islamic Feminist” is mentioned. It is my belief that many do.

As I said at the beginning of this article, Islam inoculates most of us from such heresy.

Feminism as religion

In On Heroes and Hero Worship and the Heroic in Society Thomas Carlyle wrote,

It is well said, in every sense, that a man’s religion is the chief fact with regard to him…

By religion I do not mean here the church-creed which he professes, the articles of faith which he will sign and, in words or otherwise, assert; not this wholly, in many cases not this at all…

But the thing a man does practically believe (and this is often enough without asserting it even to himself, much less to others); the thing a man does practically lay to heart, and know for certain, concerning his vital relations to this mysterious Universe, and his duty and destiny there, that is in all cases the primary thing for him, and creatively determines all the rest. That is his religion…

This definition corresponds well with one of the meanings of the Arabic word for god/deity (ilah or ma`bud.)

Muslim Feminists insist on it despite all evidence to the contrary. It is more than just a means to an end.

Your nuanced (and knowledgeable) analysis debunking cross-compatibility certainly beats my simplistic approach in asserting their mutual exclusivity. That being said, I will stand by the following assertion: Islamic Feminism is just another form of shit test, a very subtle approach to claiming the grass is greener on the other side while refocusing your lens to see the greens on this side the same way they (muslim feminists) see the other side. Do not fall for it. Women will be women. It is up to you as Muslim men to stand guard and retain Islam’s integrity.

What I noticed about feminists is that they claim to celebrate femininity and the freedom of women but they do so by requiring us to be gender less. It seems to me they are pushing us all to be one type of person.

Yes, pretty much. Differences between genders are not celebrated. Femininity is not celebrated. There’s a difference between allowing women to pursue their goals without arbitrary restrictions and entertaining female hubris. Also, as a woman, try disagreeing with a Feminist’s idea of what women should be, and you’ll find out very quickly the “sisterhood” is a cult of ideas.